A Weekend on Mull & Iona

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to spend a few days exploring the beautiful isles of Mull and Iona in Scotland.  Beautiful white sandy beaches, turquoise seas, multi-colour buildings, ample supply of historical ruins and fine food all awaited the four of us when we arrived for a friend's birthday weekend trip.

We set off from Glasgow on the Thursday night after work for a scenic 2 and a half hour drive to Oban, where we based ourselves for the night to spread the driving out and also, to get the chance to spend some time there.  We headed straight down to the pier and watched an absolutely stunning sunset over the sea before heading to Cuan Mor for a bite to eat. If you're ever around the Oban area I'd recommend this place; great atmosphere, wide variety of choices on the menu and decent prices.  I opted for the chickpea, sweet potato and spinach curry which literally was melt-in-your-mouth quality (the jeera rice was sublime).  Accomodation-wise, we stayed at the Alderlea Guesthouse which had no complaints from us and acted as a quick base for the night, was clean and in a good location.

 Sunset at Oban Pier 

 Oban Bay

Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry at Cuan Mor

Setting off on an early ferry we reached Mull in under an hour and headed straight down to Fionnphort to grab the quick 10 minute ferry over to Iona - a small island off the coast of Mull.  Trust me when I say, you have to visit this place.  I was expecting a lovely small island to explore, but what I wasn't expecting were the sublime white sandy beaches and turquoise seas! I honestly felt like I had walked onto a beach in Bali - it was amazing! The island can be explored in around 2 hours and you can take in the Iona Nunnery, Iona Abbey, Oran's Chapel and of course, those beaches.

 Calmac Ferry to Mull

 Iona Nunnery ruins

 Oran's Chapel

 Iona Abbey

 Celtic Cross

 Traigh Ban Nam Beach

Back on Mull, we headed straight to our accomodation for the weekend - the quirky Shielings at Shieling Holidays.  Now what are Shielings...I asked myself the same question when I first heard we would be staying in them and alas they are cute little carpeted cottage tents. I say little, but they were actually big enough for all 4 of us to have enough space to live in and play many card games late at night (although I'm still regretting the whisky shots!).  The view from the tents was spectacular and enticed us to walk down and enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sun set over the island.

Waking up with a slightly sore head the next day, we headed over to check out Duart Castle and enjoyed a nice, albeit rather rainy, walk round the castle grounds.

Our next destination on the island was one that I was really looking forward to on the trip and that was the town of Tobermory (some of you may recognise this as the fictional town of Balamory). Those iconic painted buildings are even better in real life. Wander down the main street and stop off at The Chocolate Factory to pick up some handmade choc goodies before heading for fish & chips (or in my case Mac n Cheese) down at The Pier Cafe.

Our next stop on our mammoth tour of Mull was Calgary Bay. The weather took a turn for the worse and ended up torrential raining on us but luckily by the time we got out the cars, it had cleared up and meant we could skip on down to the beach and bloody hell! If anyone has ever watched the movie 'The Beach', then you'll notice this place wasn't far off the beautiful Thai beach in that movie. I'm definitely heading back there on a hot summer's day to dive into those crystal waters and bathe on the white sand.

Some other stops worth of note in Mull would be checking out the Isle of Mull Cheese Farm (I was too busy drooling at cheese to take pictures, damn), the Glenforsa Hotel (for the hot choc and views), The Craignure Inn (for good pub grub and drinks) and spotting some local wildlife on the drive along Craignure...

Back on the mainland in Oban, with the sun shining (finally!), we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try out a wee chippy by the sea.  Heading to George Street Fish & Chip Shop, I grabbed a battered pizza and chips and sat on one of the benches outside overlooking the pier. Here's where I say, I was so darn excited by this meal that I literally screamed YES to the cashier when she asked me if I wanted my pizza battered. I haven't had a battered pizza since I was a teen! So for sure, try this place out if you're ever in town.

As I mentioned earlier, the Glasgow-Oban drive is one hell of a scenic one and with a bit more time on our hands for the return journey, we stopped off at a few places. My top tip: stop off at St Conan's Kirk in Loch Awe, one of the most beautiful churches I've seen yet.

Thanks to Tony, Dan and Ange for a fantastic weekend exploring these islands!  Now where to next...
Leanne x